iPhone 4S/5 Release Date to Coincide with AT&T Data Throttling Plans?

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After the leaked cases (one and two), the appearance of the cheap iPhone or the fresh rumored launch date we spotted these past few days for the next-gen iPhone, we have a new iPhone 4S/5 rumor du jour which involves one of the most important Apple partners, AT&T.

The carrier has been the first mobile force in the world to get the iPhone and the device contributed heavily to its growth over the last four years. The iPhone also helped AT&T show its bad side, its unreliable network, which in turn, thanks to the dropped calls galore, made Apple’s flagship handset the joke of the competition. But while everyone was making fun of AT&T’s poor network, which could cripple the iPhone’s performance, the handset became more and more popular, both in the USA and worldwide.

The fifth-gen iPhone is said to be launched this fall, and while AT&T is no longer the exclusive U.S. carrier for the smartphone, it’s certain that plenty of AT&T subscribers will want the new device as soon as it hits stores. Therefore we’re not really surprised to see AT&T go down the same path Verizon laid out earlier on, dealing with heavy mobile Internet users.

The GSM carrier will start throttling its Unlimited Data subscribers in October, or right around the launch of the iPhone 4S/5. Is it all a coincidence? I doubt it. The iPhone 4S/5 should come with HSPA+ support, the fake 4G,  which means even faster Internet access, where available, and considering all the apps that offer media streaming on the go, data throttling is something AT&T needs to avoid making a fool of its network again. Add to that the increasing number of mobile users that choose smartphones and featurephones that come with Internet capabilities, over dumbphones, and you’ll understand why carriers want to employ such tactics when it comes to unlimited mobile Internet plans.

There are no official details at this time about AT&T’s throttling initiative. We have no idea whether users should expect any price or not, nor do we know what the monthly data cap will be for Unlimited Data subscribers. We’ll certainly keep an eye on AT&T’s data throttling intentions and report back once we have more information for you. Will AT&T’s move affect you in any way?